Basic Design Completed for Conversion of Old LNG Carriers

NYK Line, Namura Shipbuilding and Sasebo Heavy Industries are collaborating to replace the main propulsion on steam turbine driven Moss-type LNG carriers to dual-fuel diesel engines and have now completed the basic design step.

In October 2023, NYK was granted Approval in Principle (AiP) from ClassNK for the concept, and the three companies will now proceed with a detailed design.

The aim is to improve environmental performance, make efficient use of existing vessels and contribute to stable LNG transportation.

NYK says LNG is promising as an essential transition energy for realizing a decarbonized society, and LNG transportation demand is expected to grow steadily. On the other hand, the shortage of LNG carriers is a concern due to the limited number of new LNG carriers that can be ordered and the retirement of steam turbine driven LNG carriers due to their inferior fuel economic performance compared to diesel engine LNG carriers.